Kyle Gordon earns rank of Eagle Scout; Court of Honor is Sunday

Kyle Gordon, son of David and Connie Gordon of Waukon, has achieved the Boy Scouts of America’s highest rank, Eagle Scout. He is the grandson of Herbert (Jr.) and the late Mary Lou Halvorson and Ervin and Sharon Gordon, all of Waukon.
Gordon is a member of Troop 64 in Waukon under the direction of John Troendle, Scoutmaster. The charter organization is VFW Post 4117 in Waukon.

Gordon will be honored this Sunday, March 12 at a 2 p.m. Court of Honor at Zion United Church of Christ in Waukon. The community is welcome to attend.

Gordon began his scouting career as a Tiger Cub Scout in first grade with Ann Klenske-Ewing serving as his den leader. Shortly thereafter, DiAnne Haler took over the den in the following years working the boys toward Boy Scouts. As a Cub Scout, Gordon achieved the Arrow of Light, Cub Scouting's highest award, in February 2010. He then crossed over to Troop 64 under the direction of Joe TeKippe and Tim Smith.

In his early scout years, he and his brother, Kevin Gordon, were scouts together in the Troop. Kevin attained his Eagle Scout in 2009.  Through more recent years, his cousin, Shawn Gordon, was his Scoutmaster and is also an Eagle Scout from 2008. Recently, John Troendle has taken over as Scoutmaster of the Troop.

Gordon attended many campouts, summer camps at C.S. Klaus, Camp Decorah and Camp Ingawanis, merit badge universities, flag retirement ceremonies and service projects, including roadside ditch clean-up. He has also served and cooked at many omelet breakfasts and sold wreaths at Christmas time, and has helped with Corn Days and with Christmas tree pick-up.

Within his troop, Gordon has held many positions of responsibility, including Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, Scribe, Librarian, Patrol Leader, Historian, Assistant Patrol Leader and Patrol Leader. He has earned 27 merit badges, including the 13 required badges.

A highlight of his scouting career was a High Adventure trip to South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana including the Black Hills, Badlands, Mount Rushmore and Yellowstone National Park. He attended this with his father and fellow scouts and parents. The trip was organized by Joe and Michelle O’Neill of Waukon.

One of the final requirements of a Life Scout to earn the Eagle rank is to plan, supervise and carry out a service project that will benefit a school, church or community. With this project scouts show their ability to highlight their leadership skills and training from Boy Scouts.

With the guidance of his Scoutmaster, Gordon selected Oakland Cemetery in Waukon as the location for his project. His project was to replace broken glass panes, replace doors, paint window frames and bathrooms, and restore and place signs for the restrooms in the storage shed located within the cemetery.  With the assistance of his father, he attended the board meeting of Oakland Cemetery and received approval and the funds necessary to complete his work. He was assisted on the project by Scoutmaster Troendle, his father, his uncle, Greg Gordon, and fellow scout, Jacob Dougherty. The cemetery board will be continuing with renovating the building this summer by replacing the roof on the building.

Gordon is a senior at Waukon High School. During high school he has been active in many activities, including football and wrestling. He is involved in FFA and in the summer of 2016 he and his teammates were the State Champions for the Agronomy competition in Ames, earning the team a trip to the National Contest in Indianapolis, IN in October, where the team received a Bronze rating. He is a member of Dollars for Scholars, National Honor Society and an Academic Letterwinner.

Outside of school, Gordon is a member of the Zion Youth Alive and is a liturgist at Zion United Church of Christ. For employment he works for Brad Winters at Indi-Com Electric and Portable Alert of Waukon. His future plans are to attend Northeast Iowa Community College in Calmar to pursue a career as an Industrial Electrician.